Fixing Broken Hearts
by Passion Makes Perfection
Summary: Set two years after Christine leaves, the Opera Populaire has been re-built. We begin with Mme. Giry finding a girl alone in the streets of Paris, who needs more help than she seems. Rated M for later chapters, and said chapters shall not be for children
1. Chapter 1

_My third story ever on fanfiction! I have written a few Twilight stories but they just don't give me the feelings that this one does, I'm excited to work on it and present my idea o all the other Phans out there. So, to the story! It's mostly ALW based, but I'm adding a few flavors from Monsieur Gaston's character's. It's an Eric/OC character, I love Christine but in my story, another finds a way to mend Eric's broken heart after the incident in the catacombs. You can picture Eric in whatever form you like, I'll try not to describe him too heavily so I can leave his appearance up to all of your capable imaginations. I will try and remember to update weekly or earlier on this story, to keep you all happy and to keep Punjab lassos from ending up around my neck. Please read and enjoy! _

**Mme. Giry POV**

Meg Giry paced the floor anxiously, and her mother sighed once again in frustration. "Calm down child, you'll twist your ankle if you keep that up. The messenger will surely be here at any moment with the news." said Mme. Giry. Meg acquiesced and sat down on her bed, but she still appeared anxious and impatient. "Mother, how can I possibly be calm? After two years of dancing in small ballet recitals in the city, finally the Opera Populaire is being re-opened! We can finally be working back where we were so loved, and everything will be just as it once was-"said Meg, but she stopped herself at her mother's dark glare.

"It will not be the same child, and you know that well. After Monsieur Eric was removed from the Opera house, or lives have been poor and will likely remain so. He provided me with funds that a ballet Mistress could never have made even in the finest of schools, and that is what kept our lives so comfortable. And also Christine is gone, married to Raoul and they are hiding someplace in Russia I last heard." she said, bitterness dripping from every letter she uttered.

"But mother, I know all of that! I don't mind not having fine clothes or jewelry, I just want to dance!" said Meg, standing and doing pirouettes in the middle of the room. Even Mme. Giry's foul mood could not be kept when her daughter displayed such a passion for her art. Meg's joy was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Meg eagerly ran to answer it. A young boy, who could not have been more than eleven years old, handed Meg a note and ran off into the fading evening light.

Meg tore into the letter and read it quickly, snatching it from her mother to finish it herself before giving a squeal of delight more befitting a small girl more than the women Meg was a year from becoming. "We have both been accepted back into our previous positions! I'm so excited, they mean for us to move in tomorrow!" said Meg, running to he room to pack and leaving the now forgotten letter for her mother to read.

Mme. Giry read the note over four times, and something seemed quite strange about it. She thought for a moment and realized that there was no signature from the new owner, manager, or even a seal from the Patron. "This new owner seems strange for having forgotten such things, though I suppose that at the auditions there was just a judge of quality, none whom were regarded as owner or manager. Ah well, Eric is gone from my life and I must be looking for strangeness in his absence, God knows I should have had my fill of any of that nonsense." said Mme. Giry, going to her room to pack what belongings she still had in preparation of her trip.

The next morning Meg and her mother had their things all in a carriage and were bouncing their way through the Parisian streets on their way to the new Opera. "Mother, who do you think the Opera was re-built by? Nobody knows who the new managers are, nor the owner! It's even rumored that there is no Patron!" said Meg, aghast. Frankly Mme. Giry was as surprised as her daughter, the money it would require to fund such a feat alone made her stagger, not even the Count de Changy, as Raoul had become upon his brother's death, could afford such an expense.

"My dear, I think perhaps you are falling too quickly back into your old ways of gossiping. I think you should wait a while before believing such silly things as these… mere lies. I cannot think of any single person save royalty who would do such a thing, and they surely would not keep themselves hidden if they wished to lavish their great funds upon the arts. When we get to the Opera, I want you to see if you can find out what you can about our managers, I need to meet with them as soon as possible." said Mme. Giry, and Meg nodded.

The carriage had almost arrived when a young woman's voice was heard, screaming in fright. "Stop at once!" said Mme. Giry, and she ran from the cab in blind pursuit of the owner of that voice. She found it belonging to a young woman, who seemed to be in her first year of womanhood but not much older, though her emaciated frame may prove her wrong. A crowd was around her, seeming to be trying to help but it was only frightening the girl more.

"Back away from her, can't you see your only making it worse? You stupid fools, back away this instant!" shouted Mme. Giry, using a tone she usually reserved for young girls whose heads were filled with romance more than their routines. It seemed to work on the crowd, they went about their business and left the girl to cry in the street. Mme. Giry rushed to her side and placed an arm on her shoulder. "My dear, are you alright? I will not hurt you, please calm yourself." she whispered in a soothing voice, but seemed confused when the girl looked at her blankly, as if not understanding.

"My dear, are you alright? Have you perhaps hit your head, making you scream in fright and causing this mob to surround you?" she asked, but was again met with a blank stare as the girl fainted in her arms. Meg ran over and saw the scene. Her mother holding a rather frightened looking girl in her arms, and her mother almost looked happy to be in such a situation. "Oh Mother, you've got another foundling to care for!" she said, and Mme. Giry tried to think of angry remark to deny her daughter's claim, but she was glad to have another frightened soul to try and mend.

**Odette POV**

Odette groaned and looked around, and she didn't remember where she was. The last thing she knew, Astor had hit her over the head with something and her world had gone dark. Now she was in a street in what seemed to be very far from her home, and she understood nothing of what was being said by anyone. People began to gather around her and she assumed they were going to hurt her, so she started screaming as loud as she could in absolute terror. She cowered away from anyone who tried to approach her until she heard a commanding voice rise about the ones around her.

She looked as the crown parted; a kind looking woman came towards her, with no malice in her eyes. Odette allowed the woman to touch her shoulder but then to her dismay the woman began speaking a language she didn't recognize. She guessed it was French, but she had never left her small home in New York, so it might have been Chinese and she would be giving the woman the same look she knew her face wore at that moment. In a gentler tone, the woman once again said something that Odette had no idea what it meant, and she became overwhelmed and once again her world faded into darkness.

**Mme. Giry POV**

Mme. Giry worried for her new charge. She had been in a state of unconsciousness for almost two days now, and the girl hadn't made any sign of waking from her current state. What worried her more was that the poor thing screamed in the night as loud as she had in the streets. She said no words, just screamed as if she had been stabbed for hours on end until her voice gave out, then an eerie silence would begin. Meg ran in during her brooding, looking excited as ever. "I am the best here mother, finally I will be the lead dancer in the nest production! Oh, is she awake yet?" asked Meg, peeking around to the room the girl was in.

"I'm afraid not, she stopped screaming an hour ago. She just seems to scream and sleep, nothing else. Also, I don't think she speaks French child." she said sadly, and meg blinked in surprise. "Why do you think that mother?" she asked. "When I spoke to her, before she fell unconscious in my arms, she seemed co confused by my questions, she looked at me the way I look at men who speak Spanish and expect me to understand." said Mme. Giry, and Meg shook her head. "A scared girl my age in Paris who doesn't speak French? Mother, you need to get out more." said Meg, before leaving to practice with her new friends.

Mme. Giry smiled and went back to the girl's bedside and waited for her to make some sign of life other than a horrible scream, she felt like this girl could be important and she wanted to help her in any way she could. She didn't know how she knew such a thing, but she hadn't had a feeling like this… in a long time indeed and she wanted to follow it through. Just then the girl's eyes fluttered and she opened her eyes, and a panic seemed to seize her until she noticed Mme. Giry sitting there with her. "E-Excuse me Madam, can you tell me where I am?" she asked in a small voice, filled with fear that even this kind woman could wish to cause her pain.

Mme. Giry looked at the girl in surprise, and called upon what English she had learned from Eric so many years ago, when he was such a less depressed creature and loved her as a son loves a mother. "Paris… young lady. I am… Mrs. Giry." said Giry, and she cursed her laziness of so many years ago, is she had been a better student then, she could help this girl so much easier! But thankfully her very broken English could be understood by the girl, because she murmured Paris under a breath a few times. She also seemed to understand that she would have to use simple sentences with Mme. Giry, since she obviously knew little of her own language.

"I am Odette, from New York. I speak no French and I am alone here." she said slowly, and Giry was thankful that her tone was not insulting as she spoke slowly, but it was respectful and she obviously seemed to be trying to assist Giry in understanding. "I will help you, you may stay here with me and my… daughter." said Giry, praying she was saying the words she meant to say and she smiled to herself when the girl seemed relieved. "Merci!" she said, the only word of French that she knew and Giry smiled at the girl's effort.

"Odette, you need food and water, I'll go get some." she said, going to her small cupboard and grabbing some muffins she had received the day before and also a pitched of water. She came back and Odette was sitting up on her own, a good sign. She handed Odette the water and muffins, and was very pleased that even when the girl was starving, that her manners were impeccable. "I'll leave you here to eat; I have to go for a while. I will be back." she promised, leaving Odette in the room and going to find Meg.

**Odette POV**

After finishing a few muffins and sating her ravenous hunger, Odette looked around the place she was in. It was small but she liked it, everything was so beautiful and she wanted to explore further, but she knew it would be impolite to Mrs. Giry. She merely sat there, wondering how in the world she had gotten to Paris? And where was… Astor… now? Was he looking for her, was he going to leave her alone for once and allow her to start a new life here? She knew it was in vain but she could hope, could she not? After a while of trying to wait, she curled back into the warm blankets and fell back to sleep, dreading the nightmares she knew were to come.

_Well, how was it for a first chapter? I'm working on typing longer chappies to this will hopefully be my shortest. Who is Odette, who is Astor, and where is Eric? Well, Eric will MOST LIKELY be in the next Chapter if I can squeeze him in. But don't worry, I won't leave you with too much to worry about, he is alive of course! Review all of you, tell me I'm awful or wonderful, either is at least someone caring enough to tell me what they think of it so far. I won't have too much M rated stuff for quite a bit, but it will be rated for later chapters. I won't be revealing too much of the plot, because what kind of authoress would I be if I spoiled all of your fun? :) Also, if you have any suggestions on how to improve this chapter, feel free to tell me also, I'd love any help you all can give me!  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Well my dears, here you go! Took me a bit longer than I thought to type this up, and I'm afraid I will be just this slow, if not slower, putting up chapters. Summer's getting more stressful... and none of you care so I digress :D. I managed to bring Eric in for you all, isn't that lovely of me? I should get many many reviews as a thank you! This one's a bit longer than the last and I'll try to keep improving as much as I can, I'm still not that good at making chapters too long, for me it gets to be too much to type and way too much to go through and edit. Don't expect a 10,000 word chapter to come up, because I don't think I'm there yet! So anyways... on to the story!_

**Odette POV**

Odette woke in the night to Mrs. Giry shaking her rather violently; she had almost fallen off the bed. She felt her throat and it was aching as if she had been singing for hours… and she realized she had been screaming again. "I'm so sorry Madam… "she whispered hoarsely, hoping Mrs. Giry wouldn't be too angry at her for disturbing her sleep. A young blond girl was peeking in and the girl looked a bit peeved to have been woken up. Thankfully she was shooed away by Mrs. Giry and the woman looked upon Odette's tear stained face and rather frightened expression with matronly care.

"It is alright… dear child. What ails you?" she asked, and Odette looked to the ground, a blush lighting up her cheeks. "I am… lonely Madam." she said simply, not knowing if Mrs. Giry would understand her words if she began her lengthy story. Mrs. Giry seemed to somehow understand and she handed Odette a cup of tea. "Drink this, it will calm you." she said.

**Mme. Giry POV **

Mme. Giry looked down at the girl, wondering if every sad, lonely child was assigned to her by God. First Eric, and now once she assumed he had passed on to the next life, this weeping young woman was practically thrust into her care. The girl drank her tea but did not seem as calm as it should have helped her to become. "We have a… chapel here child. Would you like to pray for the one you have lost?" she asked, and the girl seemed to pale, and Giry could have beat herself. It was not loss that plagued this girl, but she couldn't ask questions, she barely knew what she was saying to the girl, and Odette's answers were difficult to understand.

Nevertheless, the girl got up and followed Giry to the chapel, and she left the girl there, walking back to her shared room with her daughter, and Meg was standing there looking impatient. "Mother, what is wrong with her? Nothing seems to be paining her, she can obviously walk alright, but she cries out as if she was being stabbed!" said Meg, in a rather whining tone. Her mother sunk into a chair, holding her head and wishing she had a remedy for headaches, she had run out months ago.

"She seems to have gone through something incredibly traumatic child, she screams not out of pain of the body but of the heart. I don't think she has lost someone, I think her heart has been broken in a terrible way. Think of it, she has no knowledge of French and she is in France for goodness sakes!" said Mme. Giry. Meg suddenly seemed to care for the girl; she had known nothing of pain of that type and it saddened her that a girl of her age would be so sad.

"How do we help her mother?" she asked softly, her earlier pettiness at being woken up from a nice dream gone now. "I don't know child, she seems so lost here. Perhaps we should ask around, someone must be looking for her, her parent's surely." said Mme. Giry. Giry couldn't make herself believe that such an innocent young girl could be alone in the world.

**Odette's POV **

"I feel so alone." whispered Odette, speaking to no one in particular. The chapel held no merit for her; she had nobody to light a candle of mourning for anyways. If she had, she hardly had the energy to life her arm, she felt useless and weak, as if nothing she did mattered anymore. She glanced and saw a poker left by someone, and she laughed morbidly. "I don't know if anyone would miss me. I was cast out because of Astor so Mama and papa wouldn't notice my absence. And even Astor… he wouldn't miss me. I am worthless and alone." she whispered, crumpling onto the floor and crying her eyes out, something that seemed to be a reoccurring thing for her.

**Eric POV **

Another glass plate shattered against the wall, but even seeing shards fall against his meticulous cleaned floor failed to make the "Phantom of the Opera" feel any sort of emotion. "Bah, Phantom. I was Angel for so long I can hardly lift my hand against a mere rat, seeing her pleading eyes-"mumbled Eric, before he clutched his chest as if in terrible pain. Sobs tore through him as he knelt to the ground, unable to even stand as pain rushed through him from unburying memories he was trying to forget. "I-I don't even have the strength to think of such things, I am weak." he muttered, rising once his attack had ended and he was once again emotionless and empty.

He knew Giry had moved back into the Opera with that whelp of a child, and he knew he should make himself known to her. Though he kept up the guise of a ghost, he was a mortal man and he needed things in order to survive, feeding off of the scraps of the workers these past two years had left him even more thin and cold to the touch as usual, not that anyone had been touching him. He had thought to hire a woman for a night, just to try and give him some sort of emotion, but he couldn't imagine hearing another woman's screams at his hideous face.

He made his way back up the tunnels he knew so well, glad that only a few had collapsed in the re-building. He almost made the turn to Giry's old room when he heard a pained sob coming from the chapel. His heart beat a bit more rapidly, remembering the last woman he had run to aid in that damned chapel, but he couldn't stop himself from sating his curiosity. A young girl, who couldn't have been a year into womanhood, was curled up on the cold floor crying in a way that Eric had only come from his lips. _What could make a carefree young thing like her know even half the pain I have known? _

He was intrigued but couldn't make himself go to her to comfort her; he would go to Giry instead.

**Mme. Giry POV **

A knock was heard at the door and Mme. Giry ran to get it, expecting Odette but finding herself frightened out of her wits at Eric's pale white mask staring at her. "E-Eric?" she muttered foolishly, and she sank into a chair, suddenly feeling faint. Her reaction seemed to amuse him; a half hid smirk appeared behind his mask. "My, has it really been that long? I thought you were becoming used to my intimidating presence." he said, almost amused as he stood next to her chair, checking to see if she was alright and sitting down across from her when he ascertained that she was.

"How… how did you survive? The mob… found no trace of you, and destroyed what of your house that they could. I had thought you died in some mysterious way, since I have heard naught from you these past two years." said Giry; her last sentence more heated than she knew was usually permitted with Eric. He almost seemed sad; she wondered how he had been caring for himself these two years. "I… have been dealing with myself in the only way I knew how. It has not been easy, forgetting her." he said bluntly, his usual arrogance gone from his tone and Giry was suddenly worried for him. He looked… smaller somehow. Like he had lost that famed presence he had, that would frighten everyone, ballet rat to manager and everyone in between.

"Will you be in need of my services again?" she asked, suddenly forcing herself into a business tone. She couldn't afford to be so caring towards him anymore, she had a young charge to worry for and she wanted to get back to her quickly. "I will Madame; I fear I have been taking ill care of myself in your absence. I have made a generous donation to your accounts as an apology for your last two years of poverty, and I shall increase your salary." he said, smiling at her in a gesture that seemed to almost crack his cheeks, had it really been that long since he had smiled?

"I-I… that is very generous of you Eric, thank you for being so kind to me, I have struggled but I did not complain for fear of upsetting Meg, but knowing that now we can afford to live more comfortably… it makes me very happy Eric, thank you." she said, inclining her head in a thankful manner. But from his expression, he seemed to not be finished with her. "Who is that child I saw in the chapel, I haven't heard of anyone new being brought in, I had thought only the old dancers and chorus were being hired in." said Eric, trying to seem nonchalant.

But Giry paled, and he knew the girl wasn't just a dancer in the corps. "She is a foundling I rescued from the streets. Eric… could you help her? I have no reason to ask this of you, but the girl seems… broken. I know not what to do with her." she said, feeling helpless as Eric suddenly looked. "You wish to push another woman on me? What do you think of me, that I am a fool? How dare you try and make me forget-"he nearly shouted, but Giry shook her head and gestured for him to sit.

"I would never do that to you, you know that. I don't know how to help her, I can console when a parent or sister dies in an accident, and I can fix a broken heart but her… I can't fix something that is shattered. You know better than anyone how to help someone who is lost, please Eric… I beg of you." she whispered. Eric paled even more but he couldn't just ignore it. "I… will try and help her." he said softly.

**Odette POV **

She finally managed to lift herself from the ground, and she barely managed to find Mrs. Giry's home in the darkness of the Opera House, but finally she found it and the older woman looked worried. "Child, I am sorry … for not… coming for you." she said brokenly, and Odette smiled, and empty gesture so devoid of emotion that it made Mme. Giry shudder, Eric's face had looked like that. "It's alright, may I sleep?" asked Odette, weary and wanting to forget her weeping spell.

Mme. Giry nodded but gestured to her guest and Odette shrank away from such an imposing looking man. "I-I am sorry, I speak… little French… "She managed to whisper, but the man surprised her with his knowledge of her own language. "Don't worry, Mme. Giry has enlisted my services to assist you as a sort of translator, until you pick up enough of the language to sort out things for yourself of course." he said, and Odette blushed. "Thank you so very much sir, I will try and learn what I can so that you will not have to be burdened with me for too long." she said. The man tried to feign a smile for her benefit, but even she could see that it was very badly forced. "Madame, it will be no burden." he said simply, before he left her speechless in his wake.

**Eric POV **

He slumped through the tunnels, angry with himself for having been so kind to a girl that meant nothing to him. "How can she have won me over so quickly in such a course tongue? I despise the language of the English, and hearing it from her almost seems to make my native language pale in comparison!" he said, landing his fist to a wall that did little to lessen his anger, it only fueled it further. "She is nothing to me, and yet I wanted to take her in my arms and take that frightened and pained expression from her face. She looks nothing at all like… "he said, and he stopped himself before traitorous thought once again came unbidden to his mind.

"But Giry asked me to assist the child, and I will. Who knows, maybe a shattered soul like her will be so broken inside that she will learn to care for such a monster as myself!" he said, and a laugh broke from his lips, but there was no mirth in its tones. Nor was there any malice, as was his usual sound when he thought of others and their pitiful lives. No, this was a laugh of a man who was slowly losing his mind to grief, and it echoed into the dreams of Odette, somehow defending her against her terrors of the mind and leading her to have a peaceful slumber for the first night in weeks.

_Aww, isn't that sweet? Eric's lamentations of grief and pain help Odette to sleep. ^_^ But I do like emo Eric, expect him to be here for a while. Christine and Raoul probably won't be brought into this story for a long while, it'd be a bit too mean to Eric to bring in the happy couple and have them fawn all over each other while he screams at night and cries himself to sleep over Christine leaving him. Other than that, don't know what to tell you. But I do have a question for you all to answer in a review for me... how long should it take Eric and Odette to accept each other and begin "courting"? Because I don't want ten chapters of boring "My life sucks worse than yours" competitions, but having them fall madly in love with each other in a day seems awfully silly. So tell me, how long my dears? I'm anxious to hear your answers, and I await every review with bated breath. Have a lovely day!_


End file.
